By Trumpet Staff
Another longtime Wartburg College campus leader plans to leave, unexpected news to some students.
After 16 years, Dean of Students Dan Kittle will depart to become the 21st president of Dakota Wesleyan University, a Nov. 30 news release announced.
He begins his new job in March 2022. This comes after the following announcements: President Darrel Colson announced he will retire at the end of the 2021-22 school year and head to Louisiana; Dr. Craig Hancock, director of bands for the last 20 years, will also retire at the end of the school year; and Pastor Brian Beckstrom will start Jan. 1 a new job at Valparaiso University in Indiana after 12 years at Wartburg.
Kittle started in Wartburg’s academic affairs with administrative responsibility for faculty development and community engagement, a college release said. He was named the director of the Center for Community Engagement in 2008 and appointed the assistant to the president for strategic initiatives in 2012. He became Dean of Students in 2015.
“I leave with a great appreciation for how the college community has shaped and enriched my life,” Kittle said in the release. He was unable to speak to the Trumpet before publication date.
Michaela Delhi, third-year elementary education major, and Student Senate treasurer, wished Kittle had been able to be more involved in students’ lives.
“I am saddened at his leaving, especially because President Colson is also leaving,” Delhi said. “I am excited for Wartburg’s new chapter.”
RJ Herra, a second-year music performance major, was surprised. “I thought he would be president here,” he said.
News of four campus leaders announcing their departures from Wartburg has caught student attention.
“I just think it is crazy that everyone is leaving,” said Yvonne Croninger, a first-year political science and international relations major.
Dakota Wesleyan University enrolls 950 students and is in Mitchell, S.D.
Brayden Carlson, Gabby McCoy, and Lauren Ulveling contributed to this story.
Knight Wire 
Leave a Reply